ISSUE presents the premiere of three audiovisual compositions by Matt Mottel (2010 AIR). These works bring Mottel’s distinct artistic sensibility into dialogue with formative figures in his life and in New York’s avant-garde, tracing a lineage that is both deeply personal and central to ISSUE’s history.
Monarch Butterfly by rocío sánchez (2026 AIR) features Melissa Almaguer (tap dance and percussion) and Kenneth Jiménez (double bass). Together, the trio explores the elusive monarch’s migratory journey through sound and movement, with each instrument articulating distinct states of motion.
Isabella Thorpe-Woods presents "Envelop/e," her second program as ISSUE’s 2026 Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow. Bringing together choreographers Jade Manns and Ella Dawn W-S for site-specific duets, they navigate presence and absence, repetition and rupture, and the tension between inherited geometries and shifting landscapes.
"Spiriting Off" is a new solo work by luthier Webb Crawford (2026 AIR) for electric guitar, tenor banjo, and five-string banjo.
ISSUE closes the summer season with the return of Matana Roberts (2009 AIR). Opening the evening, Ben Vida (2013 AIR) will perform music from his 2026 release, "Oblivion Seekers" with vocalist Sara Magenheimer.
Chris Brown, piano, Suzanne Thorpe, flute, and Nate Wooley, trumpet, perform improvised electroacoustic music using timbres and textures that emerge from extended instrumental techniques and live electronic transformation. Composer Alexandra Gardner presents two compositions for solo instruments and electronics.
ISSUE Project Room hosts a very special benefit party and concert to support 3 Operas by legendary American composer Robert Ashley, to premiere this April at the Whitney Biennial. Peter Gordon, Ned Sublette, Elio Villafranca and Alex Waterman perform solo sets.
An evening exploring relationships of wind and electronics: Chicago's Coppice uncover sonic textures and compositional ideas peculiar to their unique setup of bellows and electronics. They are joined by Anne Guthrie and Richard Kamerman, a compositional collaborative whose long-form works emerged recently via ErstAEU.
Guitarist Alan Licht and percussionist Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) celebrate the release of their debut album "We Thought We Could Do Anything". Outstanding improvisors and guitarists Mary Halvorson and Joe Morris perform duo.
ISSUE & Representing NYC host an evening of innovative performance by New Yorkers ages 5 to 75. Students hailing from Bedstuy, Bushwick, Corona, and Elmhurst, present performance works developed at the Arts and Literacy after school program, joined by Charles Gayle, Mantra Percussion, Nuit Blanche, and ESP TV.
ISSUE is pleased to present the inimitable Charlemagne Palestine in his first-ever NY organ performance. A self-described “maximalist composer”, Palestine originally developed his organ technique in 1964. Tonight he performs on one of NYC's most distinctive instruments: the Aeolian-Skinner organ at Plymouth Church.
Composers collective West 4th New Music and Contemporaneous join forces with MATA to create an evening-length oratorio inspired by Herman Melville’s classic Moby Dick. With a libretto adapted from the original text, the composers of W4 collectively explore Melville's literary themes. With visuals by artist Andy Cahill.
ISSUE is proud to present legendary folk artist Dave Bixby in his first ever NY concert. Absent from the scene after two haunting LPs in 1969, Bixby's whereabouts were rediscovered in 2006 with re-releases to follow. Tonight at ISSUE he performs iconic records “Ode to Quetzalcoatl” and “Second Coming" in full.